Family photos aren’t my forte.  Granted, taking photos of families was where I started when I decided to venture into this photography thing several years ago.  And I will never be able to thank those families enough!  But as I shot more weddings and couples, I realized that was what I loved.  Whereas I would come home from a family session tired and drained, I would come home from an engagement session or a wedding tired but energized!  I still don’t know how that happens, but it does.  And I’m thankful for it!  It’s just further confirmation each time that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

And while that’s the case, I’m still friends with lots of people who have families.  And several of those families either refuse to go to another photographer or I won’t let them go to another photographer  ;-)  Totally kidding!  Sort of…

But that’s not the point of this post.  The point of this post is that as my brides begin to have families of their own, that it’s super important for the two of you to not only be IN the photos with your kids, but to have photos taken of just the two of you.  Your family started because the two of you fell in love.  Your family will have a strong foundation if your marriage is strong and the two of you are united.  I heard on the radio just yesterday that children feel more secure when they know their parents are as close as they can be.  And as much as I was grossed out by seeing my parents kiss each other when I was little, it also gave me a sense of peace because I saw them doing that rather than arguing in front of us.

Ben and I are going to try and be as intentional as possible about having photos taken every year.  And what I want more than anything is to have (at the very least) one good photo of the two of us at each of those sessions.  If y’all follow me on social media, you know that I’m pretty good at taking selfies of the two of us.  And I love those!  They’re just fun!  But, they don’t quite have the same effect as if someone else is holding the camera.  Besides, I love the idea that on our 50th wedding anniversary (yes, I will be 82 years old) I’ll be able to make a book (or a hologram of a book!) with photos of just us from the past 50 years.  Gosh… I’m tearing up now just thinking about it!

So, while my business is sticking with (mostly) weddings, engagements and births for now, I want all of you reading this to make me a promise… promise me that after you get married, or once you start having kids, that you’ll have photos taken of the two of you.  Photos that have you in the photos WITH your kids as well as photos of JUST the two of you (and if you have kids but haven’t been doing this, make the change at your next session!).  Deal?  Ok! :-)

Happy Thursday!